My partner and I changing mortgage lender for our maisonette in Locks Heath with UBS. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the UBS conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise his rights to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to UBS. This is solely used to protect UBS if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of UBS had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
I'm the sole recipient of my late grandmother’s estate with all property in now in my sole name, including the house in Locks Heath. The Locks Heath property was put into my name in December. I plan to dispose of the house. I do know about the Mortgage Lenders 6 month 'rule', which means that my property ownership could be treated the same way as if I'd bought the house in December. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook instructs solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you could be caught by that. many lenders would take a practical view as this provision principally exists to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the quick reselling of property.
The mortgage over my property is with Yorkshire BS for my property in Locks Heath. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Yorkshire BS?
Your original mortgage agreement with Yorkshire BS will provide that you need their approval in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Yorkshire BS’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Yorkshire BS will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Yorkshire BS directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel lawyer.
Our sealed bid on a semi in Locks Heath has been agreed to, but there is a chain. The sellers have offered on a flat, but it’s not yet tied up, and are looking at other apartments in the pipeline. I have instructed a bricks and mortar conveyancing solicitor in Locks Heath. What do I do now? When do I get the mortgage application with UBS started?
It is understandable to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs prematurely (home loan application is approx one thousand pounds, then valuation, Locks Heath conveyancing search fees, etc). First, you must ensure that your conveyancing practitioner is on the UBS approved list. Concerning the subsequent phase this very much depends on the uniqueness of your case, desire for the property and on the state of the market. In a rising market many buyers will apply for the mortgage with UBS and arrange for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they pay their property lawyer to press on with searches.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Locks Heath?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Locks Heath. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
About to purchase a new build flat in Locks Heath. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.
Set out below is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Locks Heath
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The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry.
Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor flat in Locks Heath. Conveyancing has not commenced, however I have just received a half-yearly service charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?
Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the service charge as normal given that all rents and service charges should be apportioned as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Locks Heath - Sample of Questions you should consider before Purchasing
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Does the lease have onerous restrictions? Does this lease have in excess of 82 years remaining? Are there any major works in the planning that will add a premium to the maintenance charges?
My fiance and I are buying a three room ground floor flatin Locks Heath with a mortgage from a lender. We would like to retain our conveyancer in Locks Heath but our mortgage company advise she’s not on their "panel". It seems we have little choice but to instruct from the our bank panel firms or keep our Locks Heath conveyancer and incur the extra legals for one of their panel ones to represent them. We feel as though this is unjust; Can we not simply insist that our bank use our Locks Heath lawyer?
No, not really. The lender home loan issued is subject to conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the mortgage company's conveyancing panel. Until recently, most banks had large numbers of law firms on their panels, including many conveyancing solicitors in Locks Heath : a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for your lender.